GM, Unifor announce deal to save 300 jobs at Oshawa plant

Unifor national president Jerry Dias during a news conference in Toronto on May 8, 2019, with GM Canada president Travis Hester, to announce 300 jobs to be saved during a transition of GM Oshawa plant. Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star

General Motors has reached a deal with Canada’s auto workers union to convert its soon-to-be shuttered Oshawa plant into a part stamping and autonomous vehicle testing facility.

The deal between GM and Unifor, announced Wednesday, will save 300 of the 2,600 jobs at the plant, which was set to close at the end of the year. Vehicle production at the sprawling facility will still cease at the end of 2019, with 55 acres to be converted into a testing track for innovative new vehicles, including autonomous cars. GM says this will help expand the company’s nearby Canadian Technical Centre.

GM is pledging to invest $170 million to transition the facility away from vehicle production. The company will offer special relocations to Oshawa employees for jobs at some of its other Ontario facilities. It originally announced last November that the plant would close in its entirety.

At a press conference Wednesday, Unifor national president Jerry Dias acknowledged that the agreement wasn’t entirely ideal but said saving the plant and hundreds of jobs there “gives us the ability to build and create new jobs in the future.”

“The fact that we’re going to maintain the integrity of manufacturing for the long-term is critically important,” he said.

While the amount of jobs maintained at GM Oshawa is not as significant as we would like today I’m content that we have a solid business plan for the future. pic.twitter.com/tCcmrHT1WC